I don’t own any of these images, their rights belong to their owners
Important – My MC is Viktoria Petit, and my King Liam is called King Istvan
Rating – Nothing of note I don’t think…
Disclaimer – Characters are Pixelberry’s, not mine, this is just for fun & I don’t make any money from it
This is for @tmarie82 who told me she missed Drake and Cassie 💖💖💖 but as I wrote it, and it ended up being several parts long, it kinda took a couple of ittle turns which I’m not sure how anyone will feel about? You can let me know… 😘 I am slightly scared.
It is kinda the same universe as my other Istvan and Viktoria fics, certain parts of Lythikos Lodges do stand alone as a one off if that makes any sense? So those specifics won’t be pertinent / relevant to / in other fics, whereas some other detail does carry across from earlier fics.
Much love – VP 💖
—-
Istvan gripped his half-dressed Queen by the arm, pulling her downwards back onto the bed for another steamy kiss as she squealed and tried in vain to evade him, knowing that if he managed to get her back under the covers they would never make the party,
“Istvan come on, get out of the bed. It was only meant to be a quickie! Put your pants back on. Hurry up! This is unacceptable behaviour for a King!”
Viktoria began to laugh and her eyes shone full of love as she tried her very best to tell off her, quite honestly, sex god of a husband… Istvan put on his best ‘little boy lost’ face as Viktoria whacked him with a soft pillow using her free hand to punctuate her words,
“Get. Up. Istvan. They’ll know. What. We’ve. Been doing. They. Already. Make fun. Of us.”
Istvan was laughing so hard there were tears in his bright blue eyes, his shoulders were shaking as he gasped for breath, catching both Viktoria’s wrists, his reactions quick as lightning from years of practising martial arts. Of course, Istvan could have stopped the fluffy pillow assault at any time he wanted to, but he was always playful with Viktoria, and despite his much greater strength, even when he gripped her, he was gentle enough never to actually hurt or leave a mark on his dainty wife,
“Ok, ok, I give in. I’ll get up, my love. But you look so stunningly beautiful, Viktoria… Surely you can’t blame your poor besotted husband for being completely bewitched by your feminine charms…”
Viktoria felt a dopey grin spread across her face, her nose scrunching up as she pressed a loving kiss against his lips,
“Flattery, King Istvan, will get you everywhere…”
Her husband’s eyebrows raised as he looked at her, a wicked grin forming, eyes hungry, until she clarified,
“After the party.”
—-
Maxwell was having the time of his life, it was like doggo heaven: two poodles, two corgis and a husky to chill with. He was in the middle of trying to teach them a choreographed dance, with debatable levels of success, when Hana’s head poked through the door to the grand reception room,
“Guess who!”
Maxwell sprung from his position by the fireplace, rushing towards Hana, wrapping her in a fond embrace,
“Oh Hana!! You look great!! I’ve missed you!! How have you been?? Tell. Me. Everything. Oh! Sorry! Hi?”
Maxwell let go of Hana, extending his hand to greet the smiling girl standing behind her. Maxwell quickly concluded that she was a very attractive girl, tall and elegant, her dirty blonde hair swept into a messy bun on top of her head, little sections dropping down around her heart shaped face, big brown doe eyes framed with tortoiseshell glasses, very natural makeup, just a gorgeous glow from her sun-kissed skin. Giselle smiled shyly at Maxwell as she shook his hand, a soft lilt to her voice,
“Hey, nice to meet you, you must be Maxwell, right?”
He nodded rapidly, nudging Hana with his elbow gently,
“I’m afraid I don’t know who you are Miss…? Hana my dear, who is your, very beautiful, friend?”
He wiggled his eyebrows in a comical manner as Hana bit her bottom lip and wrapped an arm around Giselle smiling coyly at Maxwell,
“This, Max, is my girlfriend, Giselle.”
Giselle kissed Hana on the cheek as she grinned sheepishly at Maxwell,
“I’ve heard so much about you, it’s wonderful to meet you at last. I’m really looking forward to meeting all of Hana’s friends this weekend.”
Maxwell nodded his head, beaming at them both,
“It’s lovely to meet you too Giselle, Hana, how wonderful! You ladies make a simply gorgeous couple! I look forward to hearing all about how you met, etcetera, etcetera, over dinner and drinks!”
Hana giggled as she pulled Maxwell into a tight hug,
“Thank you Maxwell. That means a lot to me.”
Maxwell cupped her cheeks gently in his hands as he whispered,
“Don’t thank me, Hana, I’m just so happy that you’re happy!!”
—-
Viktoria burst through the door into the reception room like a tornado, looking harassed and rather flushed as she greeted everyone, spouting a very vague story about how King Istvan had to take a really urgent call from a president of, well, somewhere, and it simply couldn’t wait, and it went on for ages, and she was so terribly sorry that it made them late… Istvan, however, strolled in somewhat nonchalantly behind his wife, barely managing to conceal his amusement as Drake shook his head slowly at his best friend, eyes meeting across the room as he mouthed, ‘You dog…’. Drake was no mug, he knew there was no phone call, Istvan had been shamelessly pulling stunts like this to spend any moment alone with Petit since the damn Social Season… He just couldn’t get enough of her, which Drake supposed was really very sweet given that they were now married for almost a year…
Istvan’s heart skipped as he watched how animated and warm Viktoria was, going round hugging and chatting to their friends; his wife was gorgeous and she was amazing, but she couldn’t lie or be discrete to save herself he decided with a chuckle. After all the greeting was done, Istvan and Viktoria both delighted to see Hana after such a long time apart, were equally delighted to be introduced to the very charming Giselle and were very keen to find out more about the flourishing relationship between the new couple.
—-
Suddenly Olivia threw open the doors to the large dining room, very theatrically. Music hummed in the background, the large round table was set up exquisitely, candles flickered and the smell coming from the kitchen was magnificent. Olivia grinned at the small crowd, nodding an acknowledgment towards Istvan and Viktoria,
“Now that the McFrisky’s have finally arrived, please, everyone, enter my birthday feast!! It’s the best of everything Lythikos has to offer, I’m sure you all will be suitably impressed…”
Olivia’s waiting staff scurried around the table ensuring that everyone had an elegant flute of champagne to begin! Olivia stood up,
“A toast, to me!! And to all of you for joining me this weekend. You’re alright. I guess…”
With a cheeky wink, she drained her glass, everyone laughed and drank amid shouts of ‘cheers!’ and ‘happy birthday Olivia!’
—-
After an exquisite meal, with the creme de la creme of the Lythikos wine cellar flowing freely throughout, the little gang of friends retired to a plush sitting room, overlooking the frozen lakes on Olivia’s estate. Viktoria and Istvan sat closest to the fire with a tartan blanket draped around them, Istvan relaxed with his arms on the back of the sofa, Viktoria sitting at an angle so she could lean against him in the corner of the sofa, heating her feet by the flickering flames.
Drake was totally happy, he had a good glass of malt whisky in his hand as he sat by the fire, running his fingers through Thor’s thick fur. The giant husky was dead to the world, overcome by the exciting new smells of the countryside, exhausted from the fun with the other pooches and from the heat from the roaring fire. Cassie sat on the sofa at the side of her love, one hand on Drake’s shoulder, rubbing it gently as she chatted enthusiastically with Olivia and Kiara about life in general, simply enjoying the pleasant company the evening had to offer. This was the best Drake reckoned he’d ever felt, his life was filled with good friends, and he had a damn good girl by his side. He’d watched Cassie chat happily for ages with both Hana and Giselle, finding out all about them both, he’d watched her banter with Maxwell, full of smiles and giggles, he’d felt his heart skip as he watched she’d warmly hugged and kissed both the royals when they arrived; God he loved everything about Cassie, she the best thing that ever happened to him. That girl was his everything. Would he have the courage to do that thing he’d been toying with doing at some point this weekend? Everything was in place if he did… He knocked back another mouthful of amber liquor as he thought about it a little more…
Maxwell and Penelope were deep in conversation at the far side of the room; Viktoria had nudged Istvan when she noticed, she’d always thought they’d be well-suited, but so far at least, it wasn’t to be…
Hana and Giselle sat side by side with another thick blanket draped around their shoulders, they were holding hands, both looking thoroughly relaxed and happy as they chatted to Viktoria and Istvan. Viktoria of course wanted all the details about this new relationship; Hana was one of their best friends after all! Hana recapped the details of the work she’d been doing at the various fashion houses, that she’d already told Viktoria about by phone and text then got to the part where she’d met Giselle,
“I’d been in New York for about three weeks and it had been wonderful; I’d been working at Carolina Herrera… So one morning one of the girls I was working with there asked me what I was doing that evening, I said nothing really, because I’d been moving around a lot and working so hard, a lot of evenings I was really content just to go home and relax in a bubble bath and watch a movie…”
Istvan nodded, totally caught up in the story,
“And the girl was Giselle?”
Giselle laughed and shook her head as Hana continued, Viktoria stroked Istvan’s hand as she shook her head thinking how sweet it was, how he was such a romantic at heart…
“No… That wouldn’t be much of a story really Istvan… The girl was called Amanda. So anyway…”
Hana winked at the young king,
“She asked me if I would like to go to an art exhibit, she was going with a couple of friends, the artist was someone she knew from art school.”
Istvan nodded, listening intently,
“Ohhhh. And that artist was Giselle?”
Hana and Giselle looked at each other giggling, speaking in unison,
“No!”
Istvan sighed frustratedly and prompted Hana to hurry up and get to the part of the story where she met Giselle as Viktoria drew him a sidelong glance, tapping his knee lightly, admonishingly,
“Istvan, shhh… Let Hana tell us!”
Hana laughed joyfully,
“We’re getting there! I promise! So I met up with Amanda and her friends, we had a few cocktails at a bar before we went to the exhibit. When we got there, Viktoria, Istvan, honestly, ohhh you would have looooved it, what a talented artist Nadia is.”
Istvan frowned,
“Nadia?”
Hana smiled,
“Nadia Park. And she is adorable, isn’t she Giselle?”
Giselle smiled happily nodding,
“She is a cinnamon roll, you’d all love her.”
Hana squeezed Giselle’s hand as Istvan murmured that he must check out this up and coming artist because he always liked to support new creative talent… Hana bit her lip as she spoke,
“I know you’re going to think this is a bit cheesy, this is why I never mentioned Giselle and I before… So Nadia had met this wonderful guy called Steve through a dating agency. They were so in love, it was just really beautiful. Anyway, she talked to me about it and it sounded amazing, they look at everything about your biology, your preferences, your desires for a relationship or partner before setting you up on a date with your perfect match…”.
Vik scoffed,
“Hana. You think I’m going to judge because you did e-harmony? Look at the BS I had to go through to be with this one!”
Istvan roared with laughter as he pulled Viktoria closer, tickling her, making fun of her,
“But my love, I’m so worth it! And you learned some fabulous skills: yachting, baking pies…”
Hana wiped some tears of laughter from her eyes.
“Well that is quite true Appletini… So anyway, they’re called Eros and it was about a week after I took their assessment, they set up a date for Giselle and I, we went to listen to some live music. When Giselle arrived she brought the most precious orchid for me; she’s a floral artist. Then after the concert, we had some dinner at the most amazing fusion restaurant in the East Side, we chatted, got to know one another a little better, and then we took a stroll through the city and got some chocolate crepes for dessert, and that is pretty much the story of how we met!”
Giselle grinned,
“And the rest as they say… is history…”
Giselle and Hana looked around at each other, smiling as they shared a tender peck on the lips.
Istvan wrapped both arms around Viktoria, Leaning near her ear, whispering,
“There’s something really special between those two, that look right there says it all…”
Vik sighed softly, nodding her agreement,
“And the reason we know that, is because it’s the same look that we have always shared, my king…”
—
TBC – VP 💖
